Muzzle



(Model.)

SHERRILL.

MUZZLB. NQ. 430,547. Pacanted June 17, 1890.

HENRY SIIERRIIJI, OE MCMINNVILIIE, TENNESSEE.

IVI UZZVLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,547, dated J une 17, 1890.

Application filed August 17, 1889. Serial No. 321,090. (Model.)

To @ZZ whom it 71mg/ concern:

lle it known that I, HENRY SHERRiLL, a citizen of the'United States, residing at McMinnville, in the county of 'Warren and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Muzzle, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in grazing-mnzzles; and it consists in certain novel features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view showing my improved muzzle in its operative position. Figs. tand 3 are side views on a larger scale, showing the gate raised and lowered, respectively. Fig. -il is a rear view.

In carrying out my invention I employ a ring or loop A, provided with the bails B at diamctrically-opposite points and a lug or stop C above the said bails. The securing strap or rope by which the muzzle is attached to the animals head is secured to the bails B, and the stop C serves to limit the movement of the gate, as will be hereinafter referred to. A leather ring` or cushion D is secured to and concentrically within the ring A and bears against the head of the animal, so as to prevent chating of the same and also insure the proper fitting of the muzzle. A slight distance in advance of the rin gA, I arrange a ring E, within which I secure a cushion F, which may be of rope or leather, and is intended to prevent the nose of the animal being chafed by the muzzle. This ring E is secured to the ring A and held in a proper position by the securing-wires G, extending between the two rings, as shown.

The ring E is provided at diametrically-opposite points with the knobs or pins 1I, on which the gatel is pivoted. The said gateIis substantially triangular in shape and consists of the base-wire J, which is fulcrunied on the pins or knobs H, and the transverse and longitndinal wires K, secured to the said basewire. covered by the guard-frames L, which consist of the base-wires M, secured to and projecting forward from' the ring E, and the connecting-wires N, secured to the ring E and the base-wires M. n

On one side of the gate, near the fulcrum The space above and below the gate is4 of the same and at the upper edge thereof, I provide the knob or pin O, to which one end of a lever I is pivoted, the said lever extending forward from the said pin or knob and projecting beyond the base, so that its outer end will strike against the ground when the ani mal lowers its head. The lever is provided with a rearwardly-exten ding arm Q, which passes through the guide loops R on the side of the muzzle, and thereby prevents the lever swinging laterally from the muzzle. A link S is fnlcrunied at its lower end on a pin or knob IT, projecting from the lower guardframe L, and has its upper end pivoted to the lever T, so that when the said lever is pushed upward by its contact with the ground it will also be given a slight outward curved motion, and the gate consequently swung over the upper guard-frame, so as to permit the animal to feed.

Froln the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accom pan ying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a muzzle which is very simple in its construction, and which can therefore be manufactured and sold at a slight cost The muzzle is applied to the head of the animal by passing the securing-rope attached to the balls B over the head of the animal, and when the animal raises its head the weight of the gate will cause it to fall, and thereby cover theeentral open space of the device and prevent the animal biting other stock or feeding from fruittrees, as will be readily understood. When the animal lowers its head, however, the end of the lever P strikes against the ground, hereinbefore stated, and the gate is thereby raised, as above described. Vhen the gate is raised, it strikes against thelug or stop C, and is thereby prevented from swinging upward so far as not to fall when the animal again lowers its head.

The advantages of my device are thought to be obvious from the foregoing description, and further comment thereon is deemed nnnecessary.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Let-ters Patent,

l. A grazing-muzzle consisting of a supporting-rin g having a stop on its upper side, upper and lower stationary guard-frames, and a IOO swin ging gate resting normally between the guard-frames and adapted to swing over the upper guardframe and impinge against the stop, as set forth.

2. A grazing-nmzzle consisting, essentially, of the stationary guard-fram es L an d the gate f uleru med at a point between the said guardframes and adapted to swing over the upper guard-frame, as set forth.

3. In a muzzle, the combination of the ring E, the guard-frames proj eeti ng therefrom, the gate fulerulned on the said ring E, the lever pivoted to the gate above the fulerum of the Same, and the link having its upper end pivoted to the lever and its lower end pivoted on the lower guard-frame, as Set forth.

4. The combination of the rings A E, provided with guides on their sides, the guardframes projecting from the ring E, the gate pivoted to the ring E, the lever pivoted to the gate and having an arm projecting through the guides, and the link pivoted to the lever and the lower guard-frame, as set forth.

5. In a grazing-muzzle, the rigid segmentalshaped frames L, located at the top and bot- .tom and separated at their meeting inner edges in the center of the muzzle by an opening, which is sul'heiently large for the animal to graze, and a gravity-gate pivoted intermediate of the guard-frames and adapted to normally @over the grazing-opening, said gate being larger than the guard-frames, so that it can be pushed up over the top guard-frame, and thus expose the central grazing-opening, as set forth.

' In testimony that I claim the foregoingas my own I have hereto affixed my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

HENRY SHERRILL. Witnesses:

W. S. LIVELY, A. C. GROSS. 

